Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to

Advance Children’s Learning & Health

Support for this event and publication was provided by a grant from

Game Changer:Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children’s Learning and Health

June 23, 2009

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In her 1966 report to Carnegie Corporation, “The Potential Uses of Television in Preschool Education,” Joan Ganz

Cooney put forward what was, at the time, a revolutionary idea – that television could be used to help children

prepare for school.

Leveraging a Unique Legacy

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Unique Model Visionary Funders

An Experiment that Worked

The U.S. Department of Education

Ford Foundation

Carnegie Corporation of New York

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Sesame Street

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The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop

Commitment to:

• Championing children’s potential• Research-based innovation• Multidisciplinary collaboration• Engaging the creative community

Mission

To foster innovation in children’s learning through digital media.

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America is Falling Behind as an Economic Leader in a Globalized Economy

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Our Ability to Compete in Peril

… there is a quiet crisis in the United States that we have to wake up to. The U.S. today is in a truly global environment, and our competitor countries are not only wide awake, they are running a marathon while we are running sprints.

-Thomas L. Friedman The World Is Flat

Sources: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), “Learning for Tomorrow’s World: First Results from PISA 2003,” 2003.

Country Average ScoreOECD average 494

OECD CountriesFinland 543Korea 534Canada 528Australia 525New Zealand 522Ireland 515Sweden 514Netherlands 513Norway 500Japan 498Poland 497France 496United States 495Denmark 492Iceland 492Austria 491Germany 491Czech Republic 489Hungary 482Spain 481Portugal 478Italy 476Turkey 441Mexico 400

Non-OECD countriesLiechtenstein 525Hong Kong-China 510Latvia 491Russian Federation 442Thailand 420Brazil 403

Figure 1. Combined reading literacy average scores of 15 year old students, by country: 2003

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Percent Students Reading Below Grade Level

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5451

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49 50

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10

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60

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90

100

Perc

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National

White

Black

Hispanic

Asian, PacificIslanderAmerican Indian,Alaska NativeLow-income

A third of American 4th Grade Children Cannot Read at Grade Level

Little Progress on Fundamental Education Problems

Sources: Lee, J., Grigg, W., and Donhue, P. (2007) The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2007 (NCES 2007-496). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.

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Maintaining America’s Global Leadership

Needed New Skills for the 21st Century

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American Children Face Increasing Health Risks at Earlier Ages

Obesity• The percentage of overweight 6-to-11-year-olds in 2003–2006 was more than four times higher than in 1971–1974. • Obese children are at risk for being obese adults and related conditions.

Diabetes• Children are increasingly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a disease usually diagnosed in overweight adults.• People with diabetes are at great risk of developing serious health complications as adults.

Asthma• Asthma is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. • Low-income populations, minorities, and children living in inner cities experience more emergency-room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths due to asthma than the general population.

Sources: Environment and Human Health, Inc., 2009; Healthy People 2010, 2009

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Inextricable Ties Between Education and Health

Standardized English Test Scores

Overall Physical Fitness Score

290

300

310

320

330

340

350

360

370

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Overall physical fitness score

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gli

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uag

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rts

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core

5th grade

9th grade

Poor Health is Linked to Poor Academic Achievement

Adapted from California Department of Education. A study of the relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement in California using 2004 test results (2004)

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• Games are the most popular digital activity for children 2–14, with 85% usage penetration among device users.

• 97% of American teens play computer or video games. • The average child starts to play computer games at age

6, and cell phone games at age 10.• A nine-year-old spends ~ 55 minutes on a portable or

video game console on a typical weekday, over double the amount of time spent by 6-year-olds.

Children’s Media Usage

Games are the digital media of choice for kids

Sources: NPD, 2007; Rainie, 2009; Sesame Workshop, 2009.

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How may innovation and engagement outside of school jumpstart children’s learning?

Thousands of young people around the country and around the world waited for hours to buy the much anticipated Wii Fit (left) and Grand Theft Auto IV (right) in 2008.

An Opportunity to Address Health and Educational Challenges

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Report

Making the Case for Games to Advance Children’s Learning and Health

Analyzes the current state of games for children’s learning and health, including an inventory of more than 35 projects in the U.S. and beyond.

Identifies knowledge gaps and challenges in the field of games for learning and health.

Recommends action steps to launch a national R&D strategy to harness the potential of games to support children’s learning and health.

Based on interviews with 24 experts and a literature review of existing research.

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What We Have to Learn From Games

Growing Evidence on the Benefits of Research-Based Game Play

• Motivation to learn• Perception and coordination• Thinking and problem-solving• Knowledge• Skills and behaviors• Self-regulation and therapy• Self-concepts• Social relationships• Attitudes and values

Sources: Lieberman, 2006.

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Promising Games in the Learning & Health Space

Dance Dance Revolution A Mayo Clinic study found that children playing DDR expended significantly more energy than children watching TV and playing traditional video games.

Re-Mission A randomized controlled study showed that playing Re-Mission improves treatment adherence and significantly increases cancer knowledge and self-efficacy in young cancer patients.

Gamestar MechanicTeaches players systems thinking through game design.

Sources: Maloney, 2008; Schiesel, 2007; Kato, 2008; Tate, 2009; The Institute of Play.

Growing Knowledge Base

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Significant Hurdles Remain in the Development of Well-Designed Games

Current research efforts are fragmented and lacks shared priorities and practices.

Old models of R&D no longer apply to an evolving, multi-disciplinary field.

Most current investments in educational technology are spent on hardware and software, rather than on training to effectively use technologies.

Educational digital media rarely bridges home and school.

The public dialogue about games is often focused on their negative effects, not their potential.

Challenges to Games for Children’s Learning & Health

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Game Changer Recommendations

Expand R&D Initiatives at Federal and State Levels

Create Innovative Partnerships

Support Teaching and Health Delivery for a Digital Age

Modernize Public Media

Initiate a Public Dialogue about Digital Media and Games

Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children’s Learning and Health

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Screen Revolution

1969 2009

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“Whole Child” Curriculum

COGNITIVE LEARNING

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL LEARNING (including Respect and Understanding)

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Percent of children choosing the food option as the one they would want to eat

Control Condition 2Condition 1

78%

22% 50%

50%

11%

89%

Research – Broccoli vs. ChocolateResearch – Broccoli vs. Chocolate

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Outreach Program

Sesame Streetfocuses on Nutrition, Fitness and Hygiene

Food Program to help start good eating habits early

Publishing & VideoHappy Healthy Monsters

Sesame Street Presents:The Body

Sesame Street Live!: Super Grover Ready

for Action

Research

Public Service Announcements

Fostering Healthy Habits

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The First Lady Encourages Healthy Habits with Sesame Street

First Lady Michelle Obama visited Sesame Street to tape a Public Service Announcement with Elmo as part of Sesame Workshop’s Healthy Habits For Life initiative.

© 2009 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved. Photo Credit: Richard Termine

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• 5-minute segments to promote healthy habits

• Featuring interviews with young children about

various health topics as well as Sesame Street

health segments

• Over 20 topics with our fun, furry friends:

• Healthy Meals

• Healthy Snacks

• Physical Activity

• Knowing Your Body

• Eat Your Colors!

• Stretching

• Brushing Teeth

• People Who Help Us Stay Healthy

• Importance of Sleep

• Hygiene

Healthy Habits PodcastsHealthy Habits Podcasts

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Turning the web on its head

Our revolutionary new website launched in August 2008 with over 400 games, 3000 video clips, and much, much more

Innovative features include PlaySafeTM, Sesame PlayLists and child-friendly navigation

Over 1.1 million unique visitors (Jan. 2009)

Over 75 million pages viewed (Jan. 2009)

Usage of videos and games continue to trend up

Consumers are engaged (for a loooong time!)The average time spent on our site per person was 24 minutes ranking us in the top 5 of our competitive set

Source: 1) Nielsen Online Net Views, January 2009, sesamestreet.org 2) Google Analytics, January 2009, sesamestreet.org 27

Health Playlists

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Health Games

Color Me Hungry

Elmo’s Brushing Teeth

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Magazines, comics

Print

Interactive games and tools to make your own raps, rhymes, comic strips, etc. Platforms for sharing. Facilitator Support

Portable Media & Console Games

The Strategy – Multi Platforms

The-Circuit Tour

Live community events

Informal curricular structure for facilitators with accompanying activities for children

Outreach

Reaching kids in their own environment

Interactive games and tools to make your own raps, rhymes, comic strips, etc. Platforms for sharing. Facilitator Support

Broadband

39 half-hour episodes, Interstitials and PSA’s

MTV meets Schoolhouse Rock with “Learn to Rap shorts & sketch comedy

Television

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Broadband

pbskidsgo.org/electriccompany

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Electric Challenge Games

Jack Bowser in Great Escapes

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Electric Challenge Games

Shock’s Beatbox

How do we maximize the potential of digital media?

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